TITLE:
Investigation Motorcycle Safety at Exit Ramp Sections by Analyzing Historical Crash Data and Rider’s Perception
AUTHORS:
Hongyun Chen, Chanyoung Lee, Pei-Sung Lin
KEYWORDS:
Motorcycle Safety; Exit Ramp Configurations; Crash Modeling; Riders’ Survey
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Transportation Technologies,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
26,
2014
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to
evaluate the safety performance of four exit ramp types and the major contributing
factors on motorcycle crashes and injury severity of motorcycle riders. A
six-year crash data were collected in Florida, and a web-based
survey (234 samples) was conducted. 573 crashes were found at 419 exits,
including 178 diamond exits, 71 directional exits, 85 loop exits and 85 outer
connection exits. For a diamond exit, both the survey and crash data showed
that this type was safer and more preferable by motorcycle riders; while a loop exit was the
most dangerous exit due to the sharp curve and a certain length of curve with
limited visibility. For a directional exit, longer ramp lengths and the reverse
curvature are the major factors causing motorcycle crashes. For an outer
connection exit, the riders rated it as a safe type; however, the data showed
higher average crash frequency and rate than those at diamond exits or
directional exits. The possible reason could be the unexpected curvature in the
middle of the ramp, which could be dangerous if the rider is not familiar with
the exit ramp location or doesn’t pay attention to the ramp curvatures. The
crash predictive model was developed, and the result indicated that if all remained the
same, a directional exit, a loop exit, or an outer connection exit will have
16%, 27%, and 42% more crashes than a diamond exit, respectively. The
findings from this study can help policy-makers and engineers to develop
and apply effective countermeasures to reduce motorcycle crashes and injury
severity levels for different exit ramp types.